How to successfully have your appraiser voice heard

Is your appraiser voice being heard?

It seems like these days that everyone wants their voice to be heard. Because of the nature of our latest election as well as the latest news headlines, and the available social platforms, there are more people talking about every imaginable issue.

Just because you are talking, however, does not mean you are being heard. You can go on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. and argue with people until you are blue in the face but is it helping your cause?

This is true especially for appraisers in the times we are currently living. I think we’re on the right track to have our appraiser voice heard but we still have a long way to go.

Who are the experts?

If you read any of today’s stories that are discussing housing, real estate, or the appraisal profession it seems that the majority of the people being interviewed are not appraisers but someone else like real estate agents, mortgage lenders, or appraisal management companies (AMC’s).

If you’re discussing home sales the agent is probably your go-to person. If you’re talking rates and terms of mortgages the lender is your best bet to get the most accurate information. On the other hand, if you want to talk about the current state of the appraisal profession an appraiser should be at the top of your list.

You may think this makes perfect sense, however in a lot of the articles I am reading, it is not appraisers that interviewers are getting their information from but other people that may not be telling the whole story. The topic that I see being discussed a lot these days is the perceived shortage of appraisers, skyrocketing fees, and extended turn times.

My post today is not being written to argue or discuss whether these things are actually happening because I think there are certain isolated areas that do have some of these problems. My main concern is how the narrative of the appraisal profession is not being written by boots on the ground appraisers but by others that are trying to skew the public’s perception of what is going on and how it should be addressed.

This brings me to my main focus and that is what we as appraisers can and should be doing to make sure accurate news is being reported and our appraiser voice is being heard. Over the past couple of years, there have been a couple of podcasts that have been started that discuss the appraisal profession and problems we are having. Phil Crawford started “Voice of Appraisal” so that appraisers would have a louder voice but I think it’s going to take more than that. Dustin Harris also covers issues on his Appraiser Coach podcast.

So what can the average appraiser do to have their voice heard? Glad you asked. I am by no means an expert in how this should be done but I have learned how far reaching your voice can go since I started writing my blog several years ago. Through blogging, appraisers can provide accurate answers to questions asked by their clients and the general public.

Blogging can help establish you as a local appraisal expert in your community. This can put you on the radar when local reporters need a quote from an expert. Who better to answer an appraisal question than an appraiser?

This brings me to another resource that is available to those wanting to get the news out. It is a website called “Help a Reporter Out“. After signing up you will be notified when journalists are working on stories you can contribute to. I personally think this is something every appraiser should do especially in today’s environment where there are more stories about real estate appraisers and how they impact the housing market.

By signing up with this service if there is a story about appraisals or appraising we can be the one the reporter talks to and not someone else who knows less than we do. Appraisers can start being more in control over the news that is reported rather than others who may not have the best interests of the appraiser.

So by establishing ourselves as experts in the appraisal field, and making ourselves available to reporters, we can help make the information reaching the general public more accurate as to what is occurring in our profession.

Questions

Do you have other suggestions on how we can effectively get our appraiser voice heard? I’d love to hear from you, so leave a comment below. As always, thanks for reading.

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